Aerosol can with lather heating means



Aug. 29, 1967 R. c. M KINNIE ETAL 3,338,477

AEROSOL CAN WITH LATHER HEATING MEANS Filed Aug 9, 1965 FHGJ.

INVENTORS ATTORNEYS FaaA.

RdxToN c. MdKINNIE KENNETH D. WRIGHT Fie.2.

United States Patent 3,338,477 AEROSOL CAN WITH LATHER HEATING RIEANSRoxton C. McKinnie, 2435 Walgrove Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90066, andKenneth D. Wright, 2200 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, Calif. 90404Filed Aug. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 478,317 7 Claims. (Cl. 222146) Thisinvention relates generally to methods of and apparatus for dispensing ashaving lather in heated and moistened condition. More particularly,this invention provides an aerosol-type container with an attachedapparatus which causes the lather therein to be heated and moistened bydirect contact with hot water.

It is well known that shaving is made easier and more comfortable when aheated lather or cream is used. In this regard, a number of devices havebeen proposed which cause the lather or cream contained within apressurized aerosol container to be heated.

Among these are devices equipped with electrically powered heatingelements for heating the lather as it is being dispensed. These devicesusually require an external source of electrical energy and thus arelimited in portability. Furthermore, many are complex in constructionand thus expensive to manufacture and repair.

Other devices have been proposed which utilize heat exchange units suchas coils of copper through which the lather is propelled and heated bywarm water surrounding or passed over the coils. These devices eliminatethe hazards of electric heaters but are often ineffective because thedischarge rate of the lather is too fast to allow time enough for thelather to absorb heat from the surrounding heating medium. Thus, thelather is not raised to temperatures substantially higher than roomtemperature or close to the temperature of hot tap water.

In addition to the desirability of hot lather, it is important that thelather contain suflficient moisture to soften the beard and allow easyshaving. In this regard shaving lather dispensing devices in present usedo not provide means for moistening the lather as it is dispensed.

With the foregoing in mind, it is accordingly a primary object of thepresent invention to provide a novel aerosol type device which avoidsthe foregoing problems and yet dispenses shaving lather in a heated andmoistened condition.

More particularly, it is an object to provide a novel dispensing devicewhich provides heated lather Without requiring external energy sourcesor complicated coil structures, to the end that a more eflicient andless costly and complex product is provided.

Another object is to provide a novel lather heating device which may beattached to a conventional aerosol type container with only minormodifications being required, so that a preferred brand of lather may beused and heated in accordance with the invention.

A more general object is to provide a novel method for heating andmoistening shaving lather.

Briefly, these and many other objects and advantages of this inventionare attained by providing a conventional aerosol type container with anovel dispensing device enabling the shaving lather to be provided in aheated and moistened condition by direct contact with hot water. Moreparticularly, and in accordance with the method and preferred apparatus,the aerosol type container is provided with an outlet manifold attachedto the outlet spout thereof. This outlet manifold preferably consists ofan open-ended curved tube which is attached at its mid-point to a spoutconnected with the outlet of the aerosol container. The tube may becurved so as to overlie a portion of the top of the container to anyextent desired.

3,338,477 Patented Aug. 29, 1967 A cylinder incorporating a screen orsimilar baffie means is attached or integrally formed with the top ofthe aerosol container. This cylinder is adapted to receive hot waterdirectly from a tap such that the shaving lather is dispensed directlyinto the hot water within the cylinder. A removable top for the cylindermay be provided if desired.

The screen is disposed above the outlet manifold and serves to dispersethe lather as it flows upwardly to the surface of the water, thusexposing greater portions of the lather to the heat of the surroundingwater. The user then simply removes the top and scoops the lather out ofthe cylinder and applies it to his face.

An alternative means for removing the lather may be provided bysubstituting for the top a cover incorporating a perforated cup member.When the cover is positioned over the cylinder, the lather in thecylinder adheres to the cup and may thus be removed with the cover.

A better understanding of the invention will be had by now referring tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view partly broken away of anaerosol type container and dispensing device in accordance with theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the device inassembled relationship;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view partly broken away, showing anovel cover structure for the device; and,

FIGURE 4 shows the members of FIGURE 3 in assembled relationship.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, there is shown a conventional pressurizedaerosol type container 10 having attached thereto a conventionalvalve-operating push butten 11. Attached to the top of the container 10is a downturned outlet spout 12, made for example of plastic, to whichis attached an open-ended curved tube 13. The spout 12 and tube 13together form an outlet manifold for the container 10. It is to beunderstood that the length of the tube 13 may be varied to any extentdesired.

Positioned above the container 10 is a cylinder 14 which has the lowerend thereof terminating in a flanged rim 15 which is adapted to besecured by adhesive or the like to the top of the container 10 so as tobe axially aligned therewith. Secured within the cylinder 14 is acircular screen 16 having a central opening 17 including a cutout notchportion 18. The screen 16 also includes a series of circumferentiallyspaced ports 19. The notch portion 18 is adapted to accommodate aportion of the spout 12 when the screen and cylinder are assembled ontop of the container 10.

A removable top 20 is adapted to cover the upper end of the cylinder 14.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that the cylinder 14 forms achamber in conjunction with the top of the container 10. The diameter ofthe central opening 17 of the screen 16 is greater than the diameter ofthe push button 11 so that the screen 16 may be positioned adjacent araised central portion of the top of the container 10, with the notch 18(FIGURE 1) fitting over a portion of the spout 12. The tube 13 is thusdisposed below the screen 16.

In operation, the cylinder 14 is partially filled with hot water from ahot water tap. The push button 11 is then depressed downwardly as shownby arrow A and shaving lather is emitted from the container 10, throughthe spout 12, and out through the ends of the curved tube 13. Thelat-her L flows upwardly through the ports 19 which disperse the latherand cause it to be partially mixed with the hot water Within thecylinder 14. As the lather floats to the surface of the hot water itabsorbs heat and moisture directly therefrom. This heating of the lathermay be rendered more etficient by positioning the relovable top 20 overthe cylinder for a short period of time hold in the heat. The user thensimply removes the top and scoops the lather from the surface of thewater ad applies it to his face.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4, there is shown substitute for the top20 in FIGURES 1 and 2 in the )rm of a cylindrical cover 22 within whichis positioned circular cup member 23. The cup 23 is held by a rod 4attached to the underside of the top portion 22a of the over 22 at thecenter thereof and extending downwardly 3 a point at which it isconnected to the center of the cup lember 23 as shown. The cup 23 itselfincludes a series of ircumferentially spaced openings 25 in its topsurface.

The outer periphery of the cup wall is spaced from the nner periphery ofthe cover wall a distance D as shown. This distance is designed to be atleast as great as the hickness of the wall of the cylinder 14, such thatwhen the :over is placed over the top of the cylinder, as best shown nFIGURE 4, the cup 23 will fit therein.

In the operation of the embodiment of FIGURES 3 1nd 4, the hot water andlather are introduced into the :ylinder 14 in the manner asabove-described with referance to FIGURE 2.

The cover 22 is then placed over the top of the cylinder 14 and moveddownwardly thereon, thus moving the cup 53 into contact with the latherL in the cylinder.

In so doing, air within the cylinder is allowed to escape lpwardly intothe cover 22 through the openings 25 deined within the cup 23 and asindicated by the arrows in FIGURE 4.

The lather L adheres to the underside of the cup, such that when thecover and cup are removed from the cylinder, the user can simply scoopthe lather from the cup and apply it to his face. The cover thus servesthe dual function of first: holding the heat of the water in thecylinder while the user is preparing his shaving equipment, and second:providing an easy means for removing the heated and moistened lather foruse.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that the presentinvention provides a method and means for heating and moistening shavinglather by direct contact with hot water thereby eliminating the need forelectric heaters and heat exchange units in the form of coils and thelike. Moreover, because of the direct contact of the lather with hotwater, a greater heat transfer efficiency is provided since nointervening medium is employed. The shaving lather is thus dispensed ina condition which permits easy and comfortable shaving and by a devicewhich is simple in construction and does not require external energysources.

Various changes falling within the scope and spirit of this inventionwill occur to those skilled in the art. The shaving lather dispensingmethod and structure is, therefore, not to be thought of as limited tothe specific examples set forth.

What is claimed is:

1. Means for providing a heated, moistened lather from an aerosol-typecontainer, comprising: an outlet manifold connected to said containerand communicating with a cylinder containing hot water; and latherdispersing means positioned within said cylinder whereby lather emittedfrom said manifold and through said dispersing means is heated andmoistened by direct contact with said water in said cylinder, a coveradapted to be fitted over the top of said cylinder; and a cup positionedwithin said cover whereby when said cover is fitted over said cylinder,lather in said cylinder will adhere to said cup so as to be removabletherewith.

2. Means for providing a heated, moistened lather from an aerosol-typecontainer according to claim 1, in which said dispersing means includesa circular screen positioned above said manifold and having a series ofports extending therethrough.

3. Means for providing a heated, moistened lather from an aerosol-typecontainer, comprising: an outlet manifold connected to said containerand communicating with a cylinder containing hot water; and latherdispersing means positioned within said cylinder whereby lather emittedfrom said manifold and through said dispersing means is heated andmoistened by direct contact with said water in said cylinder, saidoutlet manifold comprising a radially outwardly extending spout and acurved, open-ended tube beneath said dispersing means attached midwaybetween the ends thereof to said spout.

4. Means for providing a heated, moistened lather from an aerosol-typecontainer having a dispensing spout including a radially outwardly andaxially downwardly extending portion comprising: an open-ended curvedtube attached to an end of said spout forming a flow passage therewith;a cylinder having its lower end terminating in a flanged rim overlyingthe top of said container so that said cylinder is axially alignedtherewith; a circular screen positioned within said cylinder, saidscreen having a central opening including a cutout notch portion, saidscreen further having a series of circumferentially spaced ports, saidscreen being positioned adjacent to the top of said container with saidnotch portion accommodating said portion of said spout so that said tubelies between a portion of the top of said container and said screenwhereby said cylinder may be filled with hot water so that when latheris dispensed through said spout and tube, it will flow upwardly throughsaid ports and be partially mixed with hot water contained within saidcylinder.

5. The subject matter of claim 4, including a top adapted to bepositioned on said cylinder to hold heat therein.

6. A dispensing means according to claim 4, including a coverincorporating a cup member; said cup member having the outer peripherythereof spaced from said cover, whereby when said cover is positionedover said cylinder, said cup member will be positioned within saidcylnder to receive lather and enable removal of said lather.

7. The subject matter of claim 6, wherein said cup includes openings topermit air to pass to the upper part of said cover as it is moveddownwardly over said cylinder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,708,055 3/ 1951 Alexander222478 2,840,124 6/1958 Greene 141381 2,871,058 1/1959 Puglia 222-146 X3,181,600 5/1965 Woodward et al. 1 3,217,938 11/1965 Ayres 2221463,240,396 3/ 1966 Friedenberg 222146 RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

1. MEANS FOR PROVIDING A HEATED, MOISTENED LATHER FROM AN AEROSOL-TYPECONTAINER, COMPRISING: AN OUTLET MANIFOLD CONNECTED TO SAID CONTAINERAND COMMUNICATIONG WITH A CYLINDER CONTAINING HOT WATER; AND LATHERDISPERSING MEANS POSITIONED WITHIN SAID CYLINDER WHEREBY LATHER EMITTEDFROM SAID MANIFOLD AND THROUGH SAID DISPERSING MEANS IS HEATED ANDMOISTENED BY DIRECT CONTACT WITH SAID WATER IN SAID CYLINDER, A COVERADAPTED TO BE FITTED OVER THE TOP OF SAID CYLINDER; AND A CUP POSITIONEDWITHIN SAID COVER TOP OF SAID CYLINDER; AND A CUP POSITIONED WITHIN SAIDCOVER IN SAID CYLINDER WITH ADHERE TO SAID CUP SO AS TO BE REMOVABLETHEREWITH.